The ex-Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Guterres is going to replace Ban Ki-Moon as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. His selection has been unanimous as all but two absentees the rest 13 members of the Security Council were in favour of appointing him the world’s next chief diplomat. He will take charge in early 2017. The term of his service will last for six years.

Personal Life

Antonio Guterres was born in 1923 in Lisbon. The name of his father was Virgílio Dias Guterres. Ilda Cândida de Oliveira was his mother. He has two children from his first wife Luísa Amélia Guimarães e Melo. Three years after her demise from cancer in 1998, he married his second wife namely Catarina Marques de Almeida Vaz Pinto. Antonio Guterres is a multilingual with command over such languages as English, Spanish and French, apart from of course Portuguese.

Educational Background

Antonio Guterres is an electrical engineering student. He studied Physics from Instituto Superior Técnico, a renowned school of engineering situated in Portugal. After completing his graduation in 1971, he pursued his career as a professor. He became a visiting professor in the same college from where he got his engineering degree.

Political Career

In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party and later was in charge of important positions in the party. In 1992, he became Secretary-General of the Socialist Party. Following the victory of Socialist Party in the 1995 general elections, he became the Prime Minister of Portugal and served his term successfully. Under his premiership, Portugal made much advances in the field of economy and culture. He was re-elected in 1999 as Prime Minister. During this tenure he served as the President of European Council as well. Guterres’s second term lasted only for two years because he resigned abruptly in view of his party’s dismal performance in the local elections.